Now that the home release of Alien: Covenant is upon us, we had the opportunity to speak with Security Officer Rosenthal of the USCSS Covenant, also known as Aussie Actor Tess Haubrich.
With her head firmly back on her shoulders, and after eight more weeks of hard work and being on set for her next project (the second series of Wolf Creek), Tess Haubrich shows us all how another amazing actress can kick-ass; multi-tasking and working hard, while taking a moment out of her busy schedule, all while looking after her baby girl, to speak with me about her experience being in the new chapter of Ridley Scott’s Alien series, and we find out what’s coming up next for Tess.
Shandi in Home and Away seems like a far cry in the distance now. From all your hard work and getting to Summer Bay then all the way to the set of a Ridley Scott film with Alien: Covenant, can you tell us a bit about your journey?
Yeah, I think that was maybe what? Four or five years-ago? I am playing such different roles now. I actually took some time out after Home and Away and went to L.A. and did some auditions there. I came back to Sydney and had a baby and took about a year and a half out (from acting). About 3 months after, I got a call from my agent, it was the first audition I’d had for Alien and I just went back in and auditioned and got the role!
Ridley must have seen your other starring role with the Science Fiction film Infini?
That was amazing too, working with Shane Abbess because he is such an incredible character. I had a wonderful experience on that film.
Knowing you’re in an Alien film, was one of your first thoughts ‘How am I going to die?’
*Laughing* Umm, No! My first thought was oh my gosh how lucky am I to be working with Ridley (Scott), then yes, how am I going to die? I had a pretty great death so yeah, that was exciting!
Any input of your own for your character of Rosenthal that made it into Alien: Covenant?
Yeah, I mean Ridley is such an encouraging Director and he made me feel really comfortable on set. He makes you fit into your character, I mean yes, he directs you but he’s quite organic in how he works and lets you work.
So, you have plans to have a Rosenthal spin-off then?
Definitely! (Joking)
What was the biggest thing you took away from working on set with Ridley Scott on Alien: Covenant?
I just kept feeling so lucky to be part of a film like this. What did I take away from it? Just that I wanted to continue to make films of this calibre and working with such incredible people, because you learn so much as an actor.
Who were the people you spend most time on set with for Covenant? Was there certain people you grew close to?
I hung around mostly with the other Aussie boys like Alexander England, Uli (Uli Latukefu), (Benjamin Rigby, Nathaniel Dean). Mainly because we did a boot camp together and we trained together prior. But when we were all on set we hung out often.
The scenery was amazing, where was Planet 4 filmed exactly?
It was filmed at Milford Sound (New Zealand) and Fox Studios.
What’s coming up next for you now that Alien: Covenant has finished? What’s your next adventure?
Well, I just finished Bleeding Steel, which is a Jackie Chan film. I filmed that straight after Alien. We filmed that for 6 weeks in Sydney and then in Beijing and Taiwan, that wrapped in December last year and comes out later this year. Now I am working on Wolf Creek the second series, which has been amazing.
I love asking the question with everyone, what does an actor do in their time off? Other than looking after your little girl, what fills your downtime?
What I would normally do would be Yoga, hanging out with friends and having lunch, coffee etc. I play the Saxophone, so, I play some of my Sax. To really relax though, Yoga!
Alien: Covenant is now available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD.
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